The 12 Caesars gold coins are a set of Roman coins featuring portraits of the first twelve Roman emperors. Known as the “Julio-Claudian and Flavian” emperors, they ruled the empire from 49 BCE to 96 CE. The most sought after and among the most valuable of the Twelve Gold Caesars is that of Julius Caesar. Owning an example, in any condition, is an accomplishment.
Aureus struck at a military mint, c.43 B.C. It bears the portraits of Julius Caesar and Octavian (Augustus). Extremely rare. At least $50k.
Julius Caesar AV Aureus. Rome, 45 BC. Draped bust of Victory to right. 7.98g, NGC graded AU★ 5/5 - 5/5 among the finest known examples. 36,000 GBP in 2022.
Aureus of Augustus struck at Lugdunum, c.15–12 B.C.
Gold Aureus of Augustus struck around 27 to 18 BC. There are 22 surviving examples of heifer reverse aureus, of which 15 are in museums. The coin made 480,000 Euros in 2019 making it one of the world’s most expensive Roman coins.
Tiberius (A.D. 14–37) struck at Lugdunum. Caligula (A.D. 37–41) Aureus struck at Rome, A.D. 37–38. Caligula's portrait appears with his deceased mother, Agrippina Senior.
Claudius (A.D. 41–54) Aureus struck at Rome, A.D. 46–47. Nero (A.D. 54–68) Aureus struck at Rome, A.D. 62–63.
Galba (A.D. 68–69) Aureus struck at Rome.
Otho (A.D. 69) Aureus struck at Rome.
Vitellius (A.D. 69) Aureus struck at Rome.
Vespasian (A.D. 69–79) Aureus struck at Rome.
Titus (A.D. 79–81) Aureus struck at Rome, A.D. 75. This coin was struck while Titus was Caesar under his father.
Domitian (A.D. 81–96) Aureus struck at Rome, A.D. 76.
The gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, brought by the Magi to the newborn Jesus, were symbolic of his role as a king, a priest, and a human who would suffer and die. Gold as a symbol of a king, frankincense (an incense traditionally burned in the temple) as a symbol of deity, and myrrh (an embalming oil) as a symbol of death.
In the Bible, the wise men “saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.” Frankincense and myrrh had been in use for thousands of years and were extremely expensive in ancients times - as much or more than gold. Frankincense was mixed with various spices to form incense, and myrrh was used by the ancient Egyptians as an embalming agent. Both substances are produced from the resin of trees in the Burseraceae family. An incision is made in the trunk of the tree and the resin is drained and dried.
Frankincense comes from Boswellia trees, myrrh from Commiphora trees.
The frankincense-producing Boswellia sacra is native to Oman, Yemen and Somalia. As the source of high quality frankincense, it has been widely over harvested into modern times. Myrrh is collected from Comiphora wightii, which is native to parts of Pakistan and India. It is critically endangered due to over-harvesting.
Alexander III of Macedon. Gold distater, 336-323, Macedonian mint. Very rare. About EF. Estimate: 20,000 euros. Hammer price: 70,000 euros in 2022.
A distater of Alexander III of Macedon (336-323 B.C.) was a gold coin, a larger denomination than a stater, used during his reign and shortly after his death. It featured the image of the goddess Athena on the obverse and Nike, the goddess of victory, on the reverse, with the inscription "ALEXANDROU" (of Alexander).
The distater was a gold coin weighing around 17.12 grams, representing the largest gold denomination issued under Alexander's rule. Struck during his lifetime or shortly after his death, it is a remarkable piece of ancient numismatic history. Gold distaters were issued to reward elite soldiers and finance Alexander’s campaigns. Only 3 are known in mint state.
The bad sequel of 'Gladiator' in 2024 featured Caracalla, Geta, and Macrinus. Little of the film reflects history.
Caracalla and Geta were Roman brothers who became joint emperors upon the death of their father Septimius Severus in 211 AD.
A caracallus was a hooded cloak worn by the Celts of Gaul where Septimius Bassianus was born on April 4, 186 CE. Young Caracalla grew up among them and adapted some of their customs. (such as wearing a caracallus) His father, the future emperor Septimius Severus, served as the Imperial governor. Younger brother Geta was born May 27, 189, at Mediolanum (now Milan). The two boys hated one another. In 193, Septimius Severus was the victor in a complex civil war. On the reverse of a rare gold aureus issued about the year 200, the two boys face one another, with the inscription “Eternity of the Empire.”
In December 195, after his father defeated the usurper Pescennius Niger, Caracalla, aged nine, was given the rank of Caesar, designating him an imperial successor. Publius Septimius Geta was given the rank of Caesar at the age of nine. At the age of 10, Caracalla was raised to the rank of Augustus. (effectively co-emperor) Geta was not promoted to Augustus until 209. Severus died February 4, 211. The palace was soon divided into two hostile armed camps. In December 211, Caracalla invited Geta to a meeting on neutral ground – their mother’s palace apartment. Caracalla’s guards stabbed Geta to death.
Caracalla issued a damnatio memoriae and erased Geta’s name and image from Imperial inscriptions and works. His followers were slaughtered.
Geta appears on a superb aureus struck in 201.
Romans were great fans of chariot races held in the Circus Maximus. A hugely desirable brass sestertius of Caracalla dated to 213 depicts the Circus Maximus in rich detail.
Strapped for cash, Caracalla turned to the easiest route to replentishing the treasury, debasing currency. His antoninianus was officially valued at two denarii but initially contained silver worth only about one-and-a-half. By collecting taxes in denarii and making payments in antoniniani, the Imperial treasury realized a profit. Ruinous inflation raged for the rest of the century. The antonianus was eventually reduced to trace amounts of silver.
Coins of Caracalla’s last years show an increasingly thick neck and heavy beard. Inscriptions hail his victories over Britons and Germans.
Born about 164 of Berber ancestry in North Africa, Macrinus rose to the high rank of Praetorian Prefect under Caracalla. Macrinus seized the throne after arranging the murder of Caracalla. He died April 8, 217 AD aged 29. Macrinus was captured and executed after a reign of about 14 months.
Despite this brief reign, his coin output was prolific. Born about 208, Marcus Opellius Diadumenianus was the son of Macrinus from an uncertain mother.
Caracalla’s aunt, Julia Maesa, bribed the eastern legions to proclaim her 14-year-old grandson Elagabalus as emperor, using the rumor that the boy was actually Caracalla’s son. After Macrinus was killed, Diadumenian fled but was intercepted and beheaded. He was 10 years old. Diadumenian’s head was sent as a trophy to Elagabalus.
A larnax is a small closed coffin, or "ash-chest" used for human remains. A 4th century BC example found at Vergina in Macedonia is made of solid gold. The tomb where it was found belonged to King Philip II of Macedonia, father of Alexander the Great.
The cremated bones of Alexander IV, the posthumous son of Alexander the Great who was murdered, along with his mother, Roxane, by Alexander's former general Cassander in 311/310 B.C. The ashes had been placed in a silver hydria, crowned by a golden wreath. They were found in 1978 at Vergina.
The Derveni Krater is a volute krater, found in 1962 in a tomb at Derveni, not far from Thessaloniki. Weighing 40 kg, it is made of an alloy of bronze and tin. It is dated to the late 4th century BC. Large metalwork vessels are rare survivors and the Derveni Krater is the finest known.
Alexander the Great bust. Due to its original inscription, the figure can be definitely identified as Alexander the Great. The work is a copy of a work from 330 BC attributed to Lysippos.
Philippeioi, later called Alexanders were the gold coins used in Macedonia. First issued at some point between 355 and 347 BCE, the coins featured a portrait of Apollo, and on the reverse, an illustration of a biga, a Greek chariot. They had the value of one gold stater each.
The Alexander Mosaic, 100 BC, is a Roman floor mosaic from the House of the Faun in Pompeii. It depicts a battle between Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia.
The mosaic is believed to be a copy of an early 3rd-century BC Hellenistic painting.
A rare Gaius (Caligula) (AD 37-41), with Agrippina Senior. AV aureus NGC AU 4/5 – 4/5 soared to a record $216k. Another ancient that reached six figures was an unpublished Stater of Menelaus, King of Cyprus that closed at $114k. Exceedingly rare with no examples in sales archives, and apparently unknown as a full stater.
A Star Mint State Julius Caesar Aureus that ended at $78k. Mint State ancient coins with a star designation for superior eye appeal are strong performers. An Otho (15 January-16 April AD 69). AV aureus NGC Choice VF 4/5 – 3/5 made $72k. Gold aurei like this example are rare and coveted as the "key" coin in any set of the '12 Caesars'.
A Michael III "the Drunkard" (AD 842-867), with Theodora and Thecla. AV solidus (19mm, 4.42 gm, 7h). NGC MS★ 5/5 – 5/5 reached $66k. A Provincial gold Proof Pattern Ducaton (Silver Rider) 1672 PR63 NGC closed well above estimates at $180k. This coin is the only certified example known.
An aureus of Marcus Junius Brutus sold for €1.9 million ($2 million) at a Geneva auction, far exceeding its €800k estimate. Described as “one of the most iconic and historically significant coins in all of Roman history” it is one of 17 known to exist.
The coin was minted following Brutus’s 44 B.C.E. murder of Julius Caesar, and before his suicide following defeat in the Battle of Philippi in 42 B.C.E.
Brutus on an Ides of March coin, issued shortly before his death.
The Battle of Philippi, involving up to 200,000 men was the largest of the Roman civil wars. It consisted of two battles in the plain west of the ancient city of Philippi. The first occurred in the first week of October. Brutus faced Octavian, and Antony's forces fought those of Cassius. Cassius comitted suicide after losing, but the overall battle was a draw. A second encounter, on 23 October, finished off Brutus's forces after a hard-fought hand to hand battle. He took his own life in turn.
